After I left Muang Ngoi I had to catch a shuttle bus back to Luang Prabang. When I arrived at the bus station, the fancy $7 dollar shuttle for tourist wasn’t due for another 3 hours but there happened to be a local shuttle that was leaving in the next few minutes for $4. I decided to hop on and wish I hadn’t about 15 minutes in to it! It started off with the seating, the shuttle van was completely overcrowded and I was made to sit on some tiny makeshift chair that I’m sure would be illegal to sit in back home. There was no AC, so we had to settle for open windows that constantly blue dust and dirt all over our faces, arms and legs. Our driver drove like a bat out of hell and was constantly hitting potholes that would send us sailing out of our seats and hit our head on the ceiling. It was a long 3 hours but I made it!

My seat

This girl had the same fate as me with her chair

This is what the shuttle bus schedule looks like at the station, all hand- written!